USA HISTORY

AMERICAN CIVIL WAR(1861 1865)

GETTYSBURG ADDRESS

[SOURCES]
What historical documents does he allude to in his speech?

(A) ** the Declaration of Independence

(B) ** the Bible

(C) Treaty of Paris

(D) Declaration of Martial Law

EXPLANATIONS BELOW

Concept note-1: -Martin Luther King, Jr. used the phrase “Five score years ago…” in his “I Have a Dream” speech. This is a reference to President Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, which originally began with “Four score and seven years ago…” As you can see, King’s phrasing is a subtle reference, hence an allusion!

Concept note-2: -4.) The speech makes allusions to the Gettysburg Address, the Emancipation Proclamation, the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution, Shakespeare and the Bible.

Concept note-3: -The use of the Biblical allusions serve not only to communicate lines from the Bible, but also to evoke the many emotions and ideas that people associate with those passages.

Concept note-4: -I Have a Dream, speech by Martin Luther King, Jr., that was delivered on August 28, 1963, during the March on Washington. A call for equality and freedom, it became one of the defining moments of the civil rights movement and one of the most iconic speeches in American history.